My TV is on its last legs, so what did I do? I searched several websites for
possible replacements and only considered those that had customer feedback and
multiple stars. I do this for books, movies, electronics, cars, just about
anything I consider buying. Do you do the same thing?

If the feedback from someone with actual experience is positive, I am more
likely to seriously consider buying the item myself. If the feedback is
overwhelmingly positive from many people, my buying decision gets easier. If the
feedback is negative, it helps as well... but only if a clear description of the
problem is described and multiple people have experienced the same problem /
dissatisfaction.

So... will you be willing to provide feedback to others regarding the
books that you've read? Let's face it, making a decision to buy a book isn't
only made based on the price of the book, but also on whether it is worth your
valuable time to read the book. We're all short on time, so we want to be sure
that we aren't wasting our time by reading a book that won't help
us.

Where can you post your feedback? For books, amazon.com is likely the
most useful place. I'm in Canada, but still chose to read the feedback that is
posted on amazon.com rather than one of the Canadian sites. Why? Simply because
there tends to be much more feedback on amazon.com than anywhere else. But, you
can still provide feedback on any of the sites that take feedback. Even db2inbooks is a
good site to post feedback.

What should you avoid? It won't help anyone if your feedback is
negative, but you haven't actually read the book. Yes, it does happen. For
instance, my first book had a negative comment made by a reader because of the
title. I don't think the reader read a single word of the book, but decided to
trash it based on the title alone. Is this fair? Absolutely not. I'm sure most
people would disregard this type of feedback, but save yourself some time, if
you didn't actually read the book, don't bother posting comments... positive or
negative.

In terms of useful comments, a detailed, articulate reason for your opinion
is of more use than just saying that you liked the book. For example, you could
say... "I read the certification guide and was able to learn everything that
I needed in order to pass the exam with an excellent score. I believe that my
success was based on how easy it was to read the information as well as the
sample questions that explained to me why my first answer was incorrect."
This is actual feedback that I've personally received from a reader who read one
of Roger Sander's books.

If you find errors in the book that aren't very serious but that should be
corrected.... I suggest that you contact the author directly if you can. It is
near impossible to produce an error-free book. Most of the authors who I work
with make it easy for you to reach them. Check in the front of the book... you
may find an email address. Also check on ChannelDB2.com as many of our
authors are members and would be happy to hear from you. If you'd rather not
contact the author directly... you can always go directly to the publisher... or
to me. I'll make sure your comments are sent to the author who can then make the
corrections for future iterations of the book.

If you really like reviewing books... and think that you are good at it....
did you know that you may qualify to get free books from the publisher? In some
cases we ask people to review the book before it publishes and ask reviewers to
provide a comment that may be included on the cover of the book. If this
interests you, let me know.

Share your opinion... everyone will appreciate it :)

Beyond books, your opinion about the presentations being
delivered at conferences or webinars is also extremely valuable. Right now on
the DB2Night Show, we are in the Final Rounds of the “DB2’s Got Talent
Competition”. During the finals, the power is in the hands of you the listener
to choose who will win a very lucrative prize as the overall champion. Don’t
miss your opportunity, see DB2’s
Got Talent Finals – Round 1 for further information.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t add that your feedback on blogs is
also important. You can show your “like” of a blog by following it, making
comments on the content, reshare it via twitter or other social media sites, or
add a “like” to the entry.